Mountain yellow warbler

The Mountain Yellow Warbler (Iduna Similis) is a medium sized bird with a mix of olive and yellow coloration. This bird is mostly found throughout the forests of Africa. We see this bird normally feeding on flies but sometimes on remaining crops from harvests. An easy way to recognize this bird is with its whistle-tone vocalizations. The Mountain Yellow Warbler is found on the Least Concern list for their conservation status. This bird is a species of Acrocephalidae warbler; formerly, these were placed in the paraphyletic "Old World warblers".

Mountain yellow warbler
In Kenya
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Acrocephalidae
Genus:	Iduna
Species:	I. similis
Binomial name
Iduna similis (Richmond, 1897)
Resident range
Synonyms
Chloropeta similis

Habitat and Distribution

The Mountain Yellow Warbler is spread across many areas throughout Africa such as South Sudan, Northeast and Southwest Uganda, highlands of DR Congo, West Rwanda, West Burundi, Kenya, North and East Tanzania, and Nyika Plateau on the Zambia border. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forests and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. Common areas where this bird may be spotted are in places of vegetation or within bushes found along swampy valleys. The Mountain Yellow Warbler is known to be in high altitudes of the forest areas. This bird's movement tends to be sedentary where they will stay in a place for an extended period of time.

Description

This is a medium-sized bird with an olive and yellow coloration throughout the plumage. The head and back of the bird are olive-green in color, while the stomach is vibrant yellow. This bird's bill is very short and dark brown. The adult male and female are very similar in looks while the adolescent is browner and a paler yellow color. This bird is known for being very territorial.

Diet

The Mountain Yellow Warbler feeds on flies mostly but is also found to gather crops that have been left over from the main harvest. They search for their food on ground level, in bushes, and directly on the ground. Occasionally they can be found 20 meters high in the treetops searching for food.

Vocalizations

The Mountain Yellow Warblers sounds are composed of a variety of medleys featuring pleasant whistles. Their sounds are short in duration, lasting only about 4-7 seconds long. The different medleys are frequently repeated in a series, separated by short gaps. Their call can be depicted by the short sounds of “cha-cha-cha”.

Nesting and Reproduction

These birds build create large nests that sit above ground in a fork in a low shrub or bush. Their cup shaped nests have sturdy walls made of grass blades and seedheads. Their nest is constructed of feathers, ferns, and moss, and it is cobweb-bound. They line their nests with feathers, hair, and plant fibers.

In mainly rainy seasons, these birds lay their eggs in different months based on the different areas of Africa; April to October in S Sudan, Apr–Jun and Oct in DR Congo, Jul–Aug and Nov in W Kenya, Sept and Dec in Tanzania, and Dec–Feb in Zambia-Malawi. Incubation is done by females and lasts 12-14 days. The young are fed by both the parents, then leave the nest 10-11 days after hatching from their egg.

Conservation Status

The Mountain Yellow Warbler is not a globally threatened species. They are distributed locally in a fragmented range in and around East Africa’s highlands. They are reasonably adaptive to their surroundings and can thrive in secondary habitats because they are found to not be dependent on forests.

References

• BirdLife International 2004. Chloropeta similis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 10 July 2007.
• Fregin, S., M. Haase, U. Olsson, and P. Alström. 2009. Multi-locus phylogeny of the family Acrocephalidae (Aves: Passeriformes) - the traditional taxonomy overthrown. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 52: 866–878.